food

Feeding the Whole Person

Barbara Wheeler-Bride

Barbara Wheeler-Bride is editor-in-chief of Busted Halo, a website for young adult Catholics and spiritual seekers. She is a member of the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew United Methodist in New York City and a member of the board of directors for West Side Campaign Against Hunger (New York City’s largest emergency food pantry).

The social hall in the basement of the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew, United Methodist, in New York City is crowded with families. It’s not the church’s Sunday coffee hour or a potluck dinner. The families are waiting to see counselors at the West Side Campaign Against Hunger and receive needed social services and food from the supermarket-style food pantry.

Thirty-two years ago in the upper levels of the church, members of the congregation assembled bags of food for their neighbors who would come to the church in need. The members of the church would carry the bags down several old staircases to meet people with a small contribution to help ease their food insecurity.

Today, those efforts have grown into the West Side Campaign Against Hunger (WSCAH), New York City’s largest emergency food pantry serving more than 39,000 families with enough food for one million healthy meals annually. WSCAH is an innovative, supermarket-style operation with customers choosing their own food, filling their shopping carts and “checking out” when they are finished. The shelves are stocked with a variety of foods to make healthy meals. The refrigerator has milk, fresh fruits and vegetables from local farmers. The pantry is a customer cooperative. People seeking help, or “customers,” are the very people taking responsibility for daily operations like stocking shelves and checking people out of the pantry.

In addition to food, all customers see a social service counselor who gives support and guidance. Bi-lingual (English and Spanish) counselors connect customers to social assistance programs like food stamps and health care. They recommend English as a Second Language classes, financial counseling, legal assistance and job training to customers. Counselors also make referrals to various government and nonprofit organizations as necessary. WSCAH believes it’s important to feed the whole person—not just a hungry person.

WSCAH customers are invited to be part of the “Customer Chef Training Program” where they learn cooking and food preparation skills that can help them gain employment or additional chef-training opportunities. Customer chefs cater WSCAH’s annual fundraising benefit, preparing a meal that would rival any you’d find on the menu of an upscale New York City restaurant.

Growing unemployment, rising food costs and diminishing social benefits are sending more people to WSCAH for help, and yet with increased demand, WSCAH expects decreased funding from federal and state governments. It’s in this climate that WSCAH continues to empower its customers and see the potential in the people who come through its doors each day. WSCAH’s model works because it respects people. Customers keep the food pantry running, chefs prepare delicious meals, and every day people are given support and counseling that will help them become food secure. WSCAH changes our perception of hungry people by working in partnership with them, providing food with dignity and empowering customers to find solutions.